Culturally, the Delaware Valley is taken by various commercial media and advertising venues to mean the Philadelphia metropolitan area, but geographically, geologically, and historically the term used to refer to the valley through which the Delaware River flows. In geology and geography, a strict sense of the term would incorporate the Delaware River's main drainage basin, so encompass major tributaries such as the Schuylkill River and Lehigh River and their valleys or sub-basins. These extensions also apply culturally with decreasing degree gradually decreased by proximal distance because the ease of land travel enables a great deal of daily interaction; for example, the large number of commuters which travel daily 45–90 minutes creates cultural blends and parallel values.

The Delaware Valley as discussed here is composed of several counties in Eastern Pennsylvania and Western New Jersey, one county in northern Delaware and one county in northeastern Maryland. The area has a population of over 6.1 million (as of the 2010 Census Bureau count). Philadelphia, being the region's major commercial, cultural, and industrial center, maintains a rather large sphere of influence that affects the counties that immediately surround it. The majority of the region's populace resides in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

Based on commuter flows, the OMB also defines a wider labor market region that adds Berks County, Pennsylvania to the Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington CSA bringing the total metropolitan population to 6.53 million.

The region also has a large and growing ethnic population, thanks to job growth and proximity to major cities other than Philadelphia,[citation needed] such as New York City (90 miles or a 1.5 hour trip away) and Washington D.C (140 miles and about a 2.5 hour trip away).

Sticker by the Delaware Valley's Lenape Indians in 2008 claiming West Philadelphia is their home.

The Delaware Valley has four distinct seasons with ample precipitation and is divided by the 0 °C (32 °F) January isotherm. Most of Philadelphia and the NJ portion, almost all of the DE and MD portions, part of Delaware County, and extreme southern portions of Bucks and Chester Counties have a humid subtropical climate (Cfa.) The remainder of the Delaware Valley has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa.) Snow amounts may vary widely year-to-year and normally do vary widely within the Delaware Valley. The region has only two ski areas: Bear Creek Ski and Recreation Area in eastern Berks County and Spring Mountain in central Montgomery County.

Using the -3 °C January isotherm as a boundary, all of the Delaware Valley is humid subtropical except for portions of Berks County and higher areas of northern Chester County. The warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb) only exists in higher areas of Berks where all monthly temperatures average below 22 °C.

The valley was the territory of the Susquehannock and Lenape, who are recalled in place names throughout the region. The region became part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland after the exploration of Delaware Bay in 1609. The Dutch called the Delaware River the Zuyd Rivier, or South River, and considered the lands along it banks and those of its bay to be the southern flank of its province of New Netherland. In 1638, it began to be settled by Swedes, Finns, Dutch, and Walloons and became the colony of New Sweden, though this was not officially recognized by the Dutch Empire who re-asserted control in 1655. The area was taken by the English in 1664.[20] The name Delaware comes from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, who had arrived at Jamestown, Virginia in 1610, just as original settlers were about to abandon it, and thus maintaining the English foothold on the North American continent.

Some believe that the term "Delaware Valley" is not entirely a synonym for "Greater Philadelphia". "Greater Philadelphia" implies that the region is centered on the city in an economic and cultural context, while "Delaware Valley" is a more generic geographic term that does not imply that any part is of more consequence than any other. Several organizations, such as KYW Radio and the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, consciously use the term "Greater Philadelphia" to assert that Philadelphia is the center of the region, referring to the less urbanized areas as "Philadelphia's countryside".[22] Others note that the customary media usage of the term omits the majority of the length of the Delaware River's valley that is not in metropolitan Philadelphia.

WPVI-TV uses the slogan, "The Delaware Valley's leading news program" for their Action News broadcast, since that program has led the ratings for news programs in the Philadelphia market for over 30 years.

^Official temperature and precipitation records for Philadelphia were kept at the Weather Bureau Office in downtown from January 1872 to 19 June 1940, and at Philadelphia Int'l from 20 June 1940 to the present.[9] Snowfall and snow depth records date to 1 January 1884 and 1 October 1948, respectively.[10] In 2006, snowfall measurements were moved to National Park, New Jersey directly across the Delaware River from the airport.[11]

^The official climatology station for Atlantic City was at the Weather Bureau Office downtown from January 1874 to 15 June 1958 and Atlantic City Int'l (ACY) in Egg Harbor Township since 16 June 1958.[14] ACY's location in the Pine Barrens and distance away from the coast and urban heat island of downtown Atlantic City largely account for its markedly colder temperatures at night as compared to downtown; for example, from 1959 to 2013, there were 50 days with a low of 0 °F (−18 °C) or lower, while in the same period, the corresponding number of days at downtown was 2. The National Weather Service ceased regular snowfall observations at downtown after the winter of 1958–59.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — No sooner do we blink than we're already tracking another storm system, this one threatening wet weather for a few DAYS as it's not only large, but sluggish. Just a quick note for Monday night — though much of the ice from Sunday ...

Anissia Fucci and Lyric Moore scored 12 points each for seventh-seeded Manchester Township as it defeated 10th-seeded Delaware Valley, 46-42, in the first round of the Central Jersey, Group 2 playoffs in Manchester. Dejah Adams had 10 points and eight ...

Residents woke up to cars, trees, streets and sidewalks encased in ice Monday morning after a winter storm delivered a mix of snow, sleet then rain in the Delaware and Lehigh Valleys. RELATED: School closings/delays. The icy conditions prompted ...

The DeSales University men's basketball team held Delaware Valley College to 32.3 percent shooting and dominated the glass en route to a 63-55 win, handing the Aggies their first Freedom Conference loss of the season on Saturday, Jan. 24 at Billera Hall.

WILKES-BARRE — Delaware Valley's boys and girls squads grabbed District 2 swimming titles for the second consecutive year Saturday at the Wilkes-Barre CYC. The Lady Warriors placed in the top six in every event, including four of the medal spots in ...

Delaware Valley College's hopes for a third Freedom Conference men's basketball championship in the last five years ended on Saturday afternoon, as top-seeded and host Misericordia University led from start to finish in a 77-66 victory in the title game.

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